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B2B markets are fundamentally different from consumer markets. Decisions are made on value, not impulse. Buying cycles are complex, often with many stakeholders involved. Relationships and support are critical. Bet-the-business decisions demand discipline, knowledge, and lots of information.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Use social marketing to energize your B2B relationships

SPENDING ON B2B SOCIAL MARKETING is expected to grow 21 percent annually through 2013, yet the innovations of successful companies get surprisingly little attention. This book guides the reader step by step through the process of building and executing a social marketing strategy intended specifically to address the unique needs of business customers.

It's no secret that social media tools offer powerful new ways to build and cement customer relationships, but the most prominent success stories in books and the media have been about customer markets. The potential for the same tools to transform B2B marketing has been mostly overlooked.

Until now. Social media visionary Paul Gillin and strategic corporate communications consultant Eric Schwartzman have teamed up to present research, stories, and recommendations targeted exclusively at B2B companies. Social Marketing to the Business Customer presents a compelling case for using social media to revolutionize customer outreach, bringing companies in contact with their customers in unprecedented ways and creating dialogues that drive repeat business and reveal new revenue opportunities.

B2B relationships are inherently social, and Gillin and Schwartzman show how to use the new breed of tools to uncover the human potential in every business and involve customers at every stage of the development, sales, and support process. You'll learn how to:

Create an organization that integrates online conversations seamlessly and comfortably into its culture

Develop an engagement strategy that reaches all the stakeholders in a decision

Plan marketing campaigns that take full advantage of social media tools—separately and in combination with each other

Find the communities that attract your customers and target markets—and become an essential member of them

Calculate ROI using real-world metrics that business executives understand

From the basics of social media tool selection, to keyword strategies that get your products and messages on the first page of search results, to the widely varied forums that you can use to build and sustain meaningful dialogues, Social Marketing to the Business Customer makes this diverse and often-confusing world accessible and quantifiable. It is the ultimate primer that enables B2B marketers to create a customized, targeted strategy that maximizes outreach while maintaining your message.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FORSOCIAL MARKETING to theBUSINESS CUSTOMER

"This is the book I was too lazy to write. Gillin and Schwartzman have broken the code to how to approach B2B marketing with social media."—CHRIS BROGAN, President, Human Business Works, and coauthor of Trust Agents

"Gillin and Schwartzman not only dispel the myth that social media is limited to B2C marketing, they demonstrate how business customers are redefining the boundaries for influence, decision-making, and lead generation."—BRIAN SOLIS, author of Engage! and BrianSolis.com

"While most of the social media hoopla to date has been in the consumer space, social media will have an even larger impact on B2B companies seeking to build deep, long-term relationships with their customers.This book is extremely timely as a guide on how to do just that. If you're in the B2B space and looking to grow your business, this is the book for you."—LARRY WEBER, Chairman, W2 Group, and founder, Weber Shandwick Worldwide

"In the old days, the B2B marketer's sole job was to generate leads and hand them over to salespeople to nurture and close. No longer. Buyers evaluate your offerings continually on the Web, and if you're not engaging through social networks, your company is at a tremendous disadvantage. Paul and Eric show you how the most successful B2B companies reach buyers via social marketing."—DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and Real-Time Marketing & PR

"If your company is still blocking access to social networking sites or considering them as a 'productivity drain,' think twice! For many B2B companies,it is THE new way to engage with customers, communicate with suppliers, and generate leads. A solid social media presence is the only way to open and humanize your business and master crisis communication. This books shows you with very practical examples that there is no good reason not to use social media."—MATTHIAS LÜFKENS, Social Media Architect, World Economic Forum

"If you want truly expert advice on selling the value of social media to the CFO of a B2B concern, stop everything and READ THIS BOOK."—MARK STORY, New Media Director, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

In my consulting work at Socialmedia.biz, I still run into executives and top-tier managers who think of social networking as an employee productivity drain. For anyone who shares a similar point of view, run to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of "Social Marketing to the Business Customer" by Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman.

The book is chock full of meaty, real-world examples of how to grow your business using B2B and B2C strategies and tactics. The authors show how companies can use social media to forge deep, productive relationships with customers and lure new customers into the fold.

Channeling Shel Israel in "Twitterville," they cite a Dell senior manager Richard Binhammer's admonition: "Don't waste your time trying to convert atheists. Work on the agnostics in the room -- doubters who might be turned into believers through conversation."

The authors explain how a Midwestern distributor of solar panels could use Twitter's advanced search feature to scout out anyone discussing the term "solar panels" within a 100-mile radius of Chicago.

In devoting a chapter to search, the authors reveal some of the tactics that social marketers use to suss out keywords that customers are using to discuss your business -- and where they're discussing it. Sometimes it calls for a shift in the language you use on your own website or blog. "If you're blogging about `solar cells' but your customers are searching for `solar power,' you're speaking two different languages," they write.

Social media platforms and services -- LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, podcasts -- are covered in depth. Businesses' use of Twitter is more robust than you might imagine.Read more ›

Most people don't realize the distinct differences between marketing to consumers and marketing to other businesses. This is also true within social media, and this book helps to clarify those differences and sets out guidelines which will help anyone new to this field get on the right track. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about B2B marketing on social media platforms.

HERE'S SOMETHING I bet you didn't know: spending on B2B social marketing is expected to grow 21 per cent annually through to 2013. And here you thought platforms like Facebook are purely for B2C plays...

But selling to businesses is different to selling to consumers, and Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman (my podcasting colleague from the early days of FIR) outline in a extremely cogent way why selling to business is different.

Take these few examples they give:

B2B marketing is much more likely to focus on value than `experience';B2B buying decisions are usually made by groups;Business buying cycles are longer than consumer buying cycles;Business buying decisions are more likely to be a commitment than consumer buying decisions;Relationships play a more important role in B2B than in B2C decisions;Service and Support are essential decision factors;Channel relationships are complicating factors in the marketing equation.

Social media, as Gillin and Schwartzman point out, is highly suited to addressing many of these issues. As they point out,

"[Social media are] particularly effective at connecting customers with the people behind the products they buy. This barely matters in consumer markets, but in high-dollar transactions that may affect the fate of the buying company, the ability to communicate directly with designers, engineers and support personnel can make all the difference."

Gillin and Schwartzman argue that B2B companies have must to gain from using social tools, more so than their consumer counterparts.Read more ›

Whenever I sit down and venture through the pages of any novel, the "ah-ha" moment usually comes at the end or at the climax in turn of events. But as I was reading this book I had that light-bulb moment from page one. With a specific example about Dell already laid out on the first page giving me, the reader, an idea of just what I was getting into. The main objective of the novel is to let readers know that social marketing is pertinent to the growth of a company's involvement in the media which in turn will reflect their success. What I enjoyed most about reading this book isn't so much the helpful knowledge applicable to marketers, but there was no useless banter and fluff to bore me or fill paper. The entire book was relevant to making business-to-business marketers aware of the infinite benefactors of utilizing social networks to grow, expand and network. Another strength, other than being a quick and efficient read, is that I learned the entire way through. It was like a mini-textbook with real life examples engaging to it's readers. And the last strength I deemed worthy of mentioning is that this novel not only is beneficial to marketers but also a guide to reference for strategies, tactics and ways to set goals and achieve them. While reading, I applied some of Gillim and Schwartzman's methods to my own ways of doing things. Not set unrealistic goals by just hoping they happen, but reach these aspirations by following a strategy that works. In this books case: social marketing. Not relying on print or televised advertising alone, but ways others can be entertained and engaged to respond and be active in the business. This book was a fantastic read. Engaging til the very last page.